So why is the 2012 Ladera Cabernet—made from almost entirely from Howell Mountain fruit, from an incredible vintage—sitting pretty at $34.99? I honestly can't tell you. Maybe it's because no one knows how good the Ladera holdings in Howell Mountain are. Or maybe it's the pride that winemaker Jade Barrett takes in making a serious wine for a reasonable price. Or maybe it's because Ladera is an overlooked gem in a sea of Napa alternatives. For whatever the reason, I'm not going to complain. We tasted the 2012 vintage at our staff training yesterday and I was just floored by the quality of this wine. Dark, fleshy fruit cloaked in fine tannins, bits of earth, and in total balance, with enough gusto to go the long haul in your cellar. It's a whole lotta wine for $34.99, and it's made primarily from Howell Mountain grapes, harvested during a great vintage.

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Tasting with Oliver Krug

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There are five kinds of premium Japanese sake, which come from all over the island chain, but the one we're going to focus on for our first Sake 101 post are the most common: Junmai, which literally means pure rice. These are not the sakes you drink hot in cheap sushi bars to drown out the taste, but subtle beverages made from fermented rice with the complexity of some of the world's best white wines.